Art Bead Scene Challenge Inspiration

Hello beady friends! I wanted to share this month's Art Bead Scene challenge. I've been intrigued by Emily Carr's paintings for years. They capture a spiritual exuberance found in the wildness in Western Canada. They are lonely, yet some how capture a hidden throbbing that you feel in a forest. That connection of being one with everything around you on those quite walks in the woods is shared in her lively brushstrokes. They sway with the music that comes from the wind blowing through the tree branches, the grasses playing in the sun, her paintings capture the living earth.

"Look at the earth crowded with growth, new and old bursting from their strong roots hidden in the silent, live ground, each seed according to its own kind... each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth... So, artist, you too from the deeps of your soul... let your roots creep forth, gaining strength." - Emily Carr

Carr was a strong and unique character in her time, a pioneer in living a feminist existence without the restraints of family or domestic life that was expected when she was a young woman. She traveled and studied painting in America, England and France. She struggled for many years and even stopped painting for 15 years during the middle of her life but even during that time she turned to crafts to keep her creativity alive. In her later life she achieved success as a renowned artist and today is a beloved cultural figure for Canada and a role model for women in the arts worldwide.

“Be careful that you do not write or paint anything that is not your own, that you don't know in your own soul.” - Emily Carr

The painting above is Haida Totems from the BC archives in Canada. Visit the Emily Carr website to see more paintings and to read about the life of this extraordinary woman.

Visit the Art Bead Scene to read about the challenge and gather your beads to play along.